Police on their way to the Eikestad Mall on Wednesday. The mall received yet another bomb threat yesterday. Photo: Dennis Delport
The series of bomb threats concerning Eikestad Mall in central Stellenbosch continued on Wednesday, as the center received its third bomb threat in the space of one month.
“At around 10:00 am we received a bomb threat and the mall was evacuated,” said Ronelle le Roux, marketing manager of Eikestad Mall.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Stellenbosch confirmed the events.
“A phone call was received by the mall [after] which they alerted us. Police [officers were] then deployed to the scene,” said Capt. Natalie Martin, spokesperson for SAPS Stellenbosch.
The mall was given the all clear and re-opened at around 11:30 am.
The Eikestad Mall was also the subject of bomb threats on 12 and 13 March.
Martin said that the SAPS does not know why this trend keeps on repeating itself. “We don’t know why the centre [is] subject to the various bomb threats, as the phone calls are being made directly to the Mall,” she said. “We are just happy that no one got injured during these events and that the searches were negative each time.”
A shop owner in the Mall, who does not want to be named due to fears of damaging the good relationship with centre management, has said that the constant bomb threats over the last month are very frustrating.
“The threats come in [during] crucial business hours. We lose a lot of business if the centre shuts down for two to three hours. This is frustrating,” the owner said. “We do however recognise the safety of our customers as priority. We can’t take any chances in this situation.”